


Gears in Reverse

by Tokiji



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Looots of blushing, Reverse Crush AU, pinning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 07:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13542672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tokiji/pseuds/Tokiji
Summary: We all know how Marinette stutters in front of Adrien and how Chat Noir flirts with Ladybug. Because hey, they're in love with the latter! But what if the tables are turned for the love square?





	Gears in Reverse

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to get all this fluff out of my system, so here.

“Yo, dude?” Nino waved a hand in front of his best friend's eyes, eyebrow arched in confusion at the lack of response he got. “Uuhh, duude? What are you-”

 

Nino’s eyes darted to the direction that Adrien was looking at, realization dawning on him instantly when he saw The Thing that had his friend freeze up. He smirked and slapped a hand on Adrien's shoulder, promptly ignoring the sound of protest from the other boy, and whistled. “Gonna go and talk to her or what?”

 

“Wha- no!” Adrien was forcefully pulled out of his momentary trance as his face flushed and heart stuttered. He cleared his throat, trying desperately to remain calm and yet failing miserably, like every other time he saw her. “Wh- Why would I… Nino, she- she looks busy, okay?”

 

“Uh, she's literally just standing there, dude.” Nino indicated the subject of their conversation with a thumb and a waggle of his brows. “Come on, Alya’s not around! This is your chance!”

 

Adrien gulped and shook his head vigorously, every patch of skin alight with a new kind of warmth that did not come from the sun above. However, being incinerated by the sun did seem to be more flattering than the situation that  _ Nino was literally pushing him into. _

 

Panicking, he dug his heels into the pavement, but the screeching of his shoes only continued.

 

And she seemed to have heard his distress, for she turned her head around. And looked at him.

 

Every nerve in his body jumped at the abrupt eye contact, his heart doing ridiculous summersaults around his chest at an alarming rate, and the air in his lungs evaporated as he exhaled in dread. Faster than his or Nino’s mind could register, he turned around and ducked behind a nearby bush, nearly sending Nino tumbling forward.

 

Adrien was gripping the strap of his bag, abusing the leather with how tight he was holding it, but he didn't care, not while  _ she  _ was around.

 

He faintly heard his best friend sigh. “Adrien?” Nino gave him a look. “Seriously?”

 

“Oh, come on, man.” Adrien huffed and shot him a sideways glance. “You  _ know _ I can't talk to her. I-I’ll just embarrass myself.”

 

“Like you do everyday?” Nino snorted. When Adrien glared at him, he just raised both of his hands in surrender, playfulness etched brightly into his grin. “Look, Adrien, it’s not that hard. Just say, 'oh, hey Marinette, good morning!’ and that's it. I promise you can walk away and squeal as much as you want afterwards.”

 

“Ha ha, very funny.” Adrien scratched the back of his head, contemplating. “It’s easy when I’m just talking to her pictures. But to face her, in the flesh?” Adrien scoffed, cheeks reddening again, this time in shame. “Yeah, I think I’ll pass for the day.”

 

“You can't just pass  _ every _ opportunity.” Nino rolled his eyes and attempted to pull Adrien up to his feet, but the blond refused to budge. Mid hoist, Nino paused for a moment, a strange expression on his face as he looked the other way, but Adrien barely caught it with the way he was desperately trying to be one with the bush. Instead, Nino shot him a smile. Too sweet of a smile. “Speaking of. Bye.”

 

And with that, he dropped his arm and dashed across the field, leaving a gaping Adrien squatting behind a plant.

 

Adrien furrowed his brows and was about to get up when a pair of pink jeans came into view. Adrien yelped and fell back onto his butt.

 

Because standing over him, the sun shining through her dark hair and making it look like soft threads of gold were framing her petite face, was none other than Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The girl who lived in a bakery. The girl who sat behind him in class.

 

The girl who made him blush to no end.

 

“I-I-I uhmmm…” Adrien’s brain skidded to a stop at the same time Marinette tilted her head, curious, and stared at him, a perfect eyebrow raised. “H-Ha… hi.”

 

“Hey,” Marinette said, smiling politely. Raising a finger, she pointed at the space on top of her head. “You, uh, have a leaf on your…”

 

It took him two seconds to comprehend her words, but when he finally did, he patted his hair and, sure enough, found a couple of green leaves stuck on it. Great. “ Oh, that's uh… that's pretty weird. Ha ha.”  _ God, Agreste, get a grip.  _ “Soo, err… what's up?”

 

“Oh, nothing. I was just waiting for Alya.” She looked him over, and he couldn't help the fire that licked the places she swept her blue eyes over. “And you?”

 

“Oh, I uhm ahhh dropped my…” His mind suddenly blanked. In an attempt to cover up his malfunctioning mouth, he gestured vaguely at the ground before him.

 

Marinette blinked, but being the incredibly nice and wonderful person that she was, she didn't laugh at his floundering. Instead, she offered her hand to him.

 

And oh boy, if he thought he blanked a second ago, then his brain had permanently shut down at the way her upper body leaned forward, one hand on her leg and the other reaching out to him, her dainty fingers bearing little scars from sewing needles but still so endearing in Adrien's eyes.

 

He must have frozen up for too long, and it was only by the sound of her clearing her throat that managed to snap him awake. “Need a hand?” She asked. “Getting up, I mean.”

 

For a split second, he wanted to brush her kind offer with a smile and just _ get the hell out  _ of the awkward encounter, but another part of him, which was mainly occupied by Nino’s encouraging words, felt like this was his chance. Be smooth, chanel his inner Chat,  _ be suave _ -

 

When their palms brushed together, Adrien’s face flared so much that even Ladybug's costume would have been put to shame.

 

Swiftly, he retracted his hand from hers, as if the contact would burn a hole into his flesh. His eyes flew to his shoes, refusing to meet her gaze, and he fumbled with the hem of his jacket. “Ah, I-I-I should… go.”

 

“Oh,” Marinette blinked again. “Um, are you sure you can go alone? You look kinda sick.”

 

Adrien tried for a smile, silently thanking his modeling job for making that act as natural as breathing for him now, even in a tight spot like this. “I’m okay.”

 

It looked as if she wanted to protest - oh sweet Jesus, why did she have to be so caring? - but a voice rang out, “Mari? Where are you?”

 

Whipping their heads, they saw Alya, looking around the field in confusion.

 

“I’d better go, too.” She smiled, the gesture so innocent but still so damaging to his composure that he had to buckle his knees to avoid falling over. “See you around, Adrien.”

 

After waving her goodbye, she jogged over to her best friend, and the two girls were out of sight in seconds.

 

He didn't have to wait too long for some company either. Nino appeared next to him, out of the blue, and clapped a hand on Adrien's shoulder. “Well, at least you didn't run away from her this time.” Nino smirked, completely expecting a glare or a huff of indignation, but neither of those happened. He raised an eyebrow, perplexed. “Dude?”

 

“She touched my hand,” Adrien announced stupidly.

 

Nino stared, and after a moment of silence, he snorted, holding back a guffaw. “Well,” he tried instead, “That's progress, at least. Good job, man.”

 

“I am never going to wash my hand again.”

 

Nino spluttered. “Okay, whoa, let's not get-”

 

“I’m joking, Nino.” Adrien laughed at the exasperated sigh his friend made. “But… despite all the shades of awkwardness… it was nice. Talking to her.”

 

“ _ Now _ you get my point.” Feeling pretty good about his best friend's lovesick smile, Nino slung a lazy arm around him, steering them away from school. “Ice cream to celebrate?”

 

“ _ God _ , yes. I need to cool down.”

 

As their chuckles and jokes flitted through the street, the other two best friends were walking down the opposite direction, with the redhead tapping away at her phone for a new article on the Ladyblog, while the pigtailed slurped happily on her smoothie. 

 

Without glancing up from her phone screen, Alya asked, “So, who kept you while I was away?”

 

“Oh, it was Adrien.”

 

“ _ The _ Adrien? Like, Chloe's-second-sidekick Adrien?”

 

“Don't call him that, Alya.” Marinette frowned. “He’s nice.”

 

“Really? Did he finally strike up a conversation with you?”

 

“Sort of.” Marinette shrugged, but nonetheless giggled at the memory of his flustered attempts of speech. “He’s just new. But he’ll get the hang of things in no time.”

 

“Right. Oh yeah, you know, I found another clue about Ladybug this afternoon…”

 

As Alya jumped back into reporter mode, Marinette was only half-listening, while the other part of her was reliving the image of Adrien Agreste, Paris’s supermodel, having a few leaves stuck to his blond hair. She giggled unconsciously, because the boy really was a bit strange, but he was funny at least.

  
When Alya asked her what had gotten into her, she merely shrugged, quietly stowing the image of earlier to memory.

**Author's Note:**

> I might do a few more one-shots, if the inspiration ever strikes me again. But hope you enjoyed this one!


End file.
